


The Mining Colony of Raxiflorian

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Adventure, BAMF Rory Williams, Clones, F/M, rory the nurse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4462067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor takes Amy and Rory to a mining colony, nothing is as it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mining Colony of Raxiflorian

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deinonychus_1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deinonychus_1/gifts).



> Written as a present for the delightful deinonychus_1, who wanted Rory saving the day. Originally posted to Livejournal in 2011.

  
“Are you telling me,” Rory began, peering down into a large mine shaft, “that all the people who work here are clones?”

“Yes,” the Doctor replied. “And not just the workers – everyone on Raxiflorian is a clone.”

“So, like Gangers, then?” Amy asked, turning to face the Doctor. She frowned as the Doctor now seemed intent on dismantling a console by the far door.

“Yes.” He spun around on his heels. “Actually, no.” And then spun back round to continue working away at the console.

Amy and Rory shared a look.

“How are they different?” Rory asked. “Doctor?”

“Humans use Gangers to do all that nasty work they don't want to. Clones are, well...” The Doctor trailed off as if it should be self-event.

“Do all the nasty work the humans don't want to do?” Rory finished for him.

“Yes,” the Doctor said, pointing at Rory's chest. Then his face crumpled in that way he did when his mind was contradicting itself faster than he could talk. “But not.”

Rory and Amy waited expectantly.

“The clones do all the work, because there's no one else to do it.” The Doctor started to pace, in his lecture mode. Amy and Rory made themselves as comfortable as they could, leaning up against the railing. “The last human on the planet died, oh, five hundred years ago and the clones have just kept on cloning themselves, doing everything that the humans would have done, developing a culture, fortifying their reputation as the best mine in the galaxy for Dynathum Crystals...everything except reproduce naturally.”

“They can't...”Amy began, waving her hand lightly between herself and Rory.

“No,” the Doctor said, his face turning serious. “They’re all essentially eunuchs.”

He turned to look at Rory when he said that, and Rory fought the urge to put his hands over his crotch. Any stifled a laugh, just, and then turned to smile in Rory's direction.

“Don't worry, Doctor,” she said, “no problems on that score.”

The Doctor made a gurgled sound of complaint before turning back to the console, his sonic screwdriver in his hand.

“What are you doing, anyway?” Rory asked. He moved to peer over the Doctor's shoulder.

“Getting us inside.”

“Couldn't you just..ring the bell?” Rory suggested.

“Ring the bell?” the Doctor yelped. “Ring the bell?” He straightened up. “This is a high security...” He pursed his lips and frowned, following the direction Rory was pointing.

A large sign on the door declared that they should “RING BELL FOR ENTRY.” With an accompanying arrow pointing out a green button on the right of the door.

“Well,” the Doctor said, “we could do that.” He returned his screwdriver to his pocket and suited his actions to his words.

Immediately an alarm sounded throughout the facility and red lights started to flash all around them.

“And this,” the Doctor said, angrily crowding into Rory's personal space, “is why we don't ring bells.”

Rory shrugged helplessly and looked over at Amy, who had her ear pressed against the door.

“Amy?” he asked. “What is it?”

“Something’s coming.” She moved quickly out of the way and joined the others. The Doctor got his screwdriver out again, and cast about for any escape route. They might be able to make it back to the TARDIS, parked just off to the left, if they...

...too late though, as the door flicked open and four armed guards stood in front of them.

“Humans, stand here.” He pointed at a spot just in front of him. Nobody moved.

“Humans. Stand here.” This time the guard pointed his gun, and the Doctor stepped forward.

“Look,” the Doctor began, but the guard raised his gun and a light appeared on the Doctor's forehead.

“ _Doctor_ ”, Rory said in warning.

“You are not human,” the guard said, his voice cutting of any further protest. “The humans must come with us. They are in season.”

“In season?” Amy parroted back. “Let me tell you...”

The guard moved forward and grabbed Amy's arm. He started to pull her forward, apparently not affected by the way she pulled and kicked at him.

“Let go of my wife,” Rory demanded, voice low and dangerous. But another guard came for him too and started dragging him through the door.

“Doctor!” Amy yelled. “Doctor, do something!”

“I _am_ doing something,” the Doctor retorted. He was in fact pointing his screwdriver at the guards and then making adjustments, but nothing seemed to be happening.

“Doctor!” Rory yelled. “Whenever you’re ready...”

“Where's the clone setting on this thing?” the Doctor muttered, as Rory was dragged completely through the door.

“Doctor!” Amy shouted, as she too was dragged away.

The Doctor started to kick out at the nearest guard, but it easily held him at arm's length.

Then it too went through the door, which started to close behind them all.

“Sorry old girl,” he said to his screwdriver and then, with a flourish, the Doctor rolled it along the floor and into the small gap in the door, holding it open just enough for the Doctor to get his fingers through.

“Aha!” he said. “Got you!”

But a guard's boot kicked the screwdriver back through the door at the Doctor who only just managed to avoid having his fingers crushed.

“Ah,” he said. He picked up the screwdriver and put it back in his pocket. “Still got the TARDIS though.”

He moved quickly over to her, only to find himself flung backwards on to the floor.

“What?” He moved back to the TARDIS again, this time much more gingerly with arms stretched out in front of him. He got within five feet of the TARDIS when the forcefield kicked in again. At least this time it was only his fingertips that got frazzled and not the rest of him.

“Oh,” the Doctor said. “I see.” He looked around himself. Only one door into the complex. Only one way to reach the TARDIS. Only one way down.

He peered over the edge of the railing and down into the mine shaft. Only one very long way down.

* * * * * 

“Let go of me!” Amy shouted. She kicked out and pushed and hit as much as she was able but nothing seemed to have any effect. “I thought these things were clones, not robots,” she said to Rory, who was trying just as hard to free himself.

“I don't know,” Rory said. “Maybe the Doctor got it wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.”

“What's keeping him, anyway? He should be here by now.” Amy tried to peer down the corridor, but they were moving so fast and all the doors looked so exactly alike that she no longer had any idea which one the Doctor would be coming through.

“Let's just see where they take us?” Rory suggested. “They're obviously not going to let us go. Maybe we can talk to their bosses or something?”

“Fine,” Amy said. She stopped struggling, clearly not happy about it, but not having any better suggestion either.

They soon found themselves deposited in a clean, white space with one large double bed in it. There was no other furniture. There was one picture on the wall and Amy and Rory both went over to it, hoping it would provide some clue as to what was going on.

“What do you think it is?” Rory asked.

“I don't know,” Amy said, brow furrowed.

She and Rory both tilted their heads to the left and then to the right.

“Oh,” they said at the same moment. “Oh.”

“That's...flexible,” Rory said, face flushed.

“Yes,” Amy agreed. “Very.”

The door opened behind then, saving them from any further embarrassment.

Another guard walked in, but she was dressed differently to the others. She had the same sort of armour plating as the ones they'd already encountered, but her head wasn't covered by a helmet, revealing her shocking blue hair and a pale face with intricate blue patterns tattooed all over it. Her arms were also uncovered, and she had the same blue pattern drawn down the length of them as well. She rested her hand almost nonchalantly on the gun on its holster around her waist. Rory and Army looked at each other and then sat down on the edge of the bed.

“My name is Kelisa. I'm in charge of the breeding programme. First must I thank you for volunteering. The continuing productivity of the mine is reliant on...”

“Volunteering?” Rory interrupted. “Nobody's volunteered for anything.”

“We were kidnapped,” Amy added for good measure.

Kelisa regarded them coolly. “Did you ring my bell?”

“Yes, but...”

“Then you volunteered.”

“We're travellers,” Rory said. “We're not from this part of the galaxy, we're not used to your customs.”

Kelisa sighed. “So you’re refusing to the sign the consent form?”

“Yes, yes, very much refusing to sign any consent to do, anything,” Rory replied. He looked hopefully over at Amy. Maybe this could all be sorted out easily for once.

“Very well,” Kelisa said. She turned to one of the guards who had been lurking in the doorway. “Did you ask their permission before bringing them here?”

If it was possible for someone in a helmet with their features hidden to look sheepish, this guard certainly achieved it.

Kelisa sighed again and turned back to Amy and Rory. “I'm sorry,” she said. “It's been so long since we've had any humans come here. Well, I'm sure you don’t need to hear about our population issues. I'll have you escorted back to your companion.”

“Great,” Amy said. She eagerly stood up and reached over to yank Rory up, but he was ignoring her hand to stare thoughtfully at Kelisa. “Rory?”

“What population problems? I thought you just produced more clones when you needed to.”

Amy sat back down on the bed. She could tell that Rory wouldn’t be happy till he got to the bottom of this. He was a lot like the Doctor in that respect.

“Clone the same subject too many times and they become like robots, unable to think and function for themselves.” Kelisa motioned towards the guards behind her. “Most of them became guards, but a few are so damaged that we have to destroy them in the furnace.”

“And you're a ...all of you, everyone here's a clone?” Rory asked. He wasn't quite sure of the etiquette of the question.

Kelisa seemed to pause, considering how much to tell them. Amy and Rory waited expectantly; as usual things were not as obvious as they first appeared.

“Not everyone in the complex is a clone. About 5% of us, myself included, are Living Samples. When a large number of clones break down we release a few more Living Samples from storage.”

“Storage?” Amy asked. “What kind of storage?”

“Cryogenic pods,” Kelisa replied.

“And how many people are in these pods?”

“The entire population of the planet. 1.5 million.”

Amy and Rory looked astonished.

“So, hang on,” Rory said. “All those people – Living Samples – are being kept alive for – what? I can see you using the clones for the mining, but why not just – breed?”

“We're all infertile,” Kelisa replied.

Rory's eyebrows shot up. “All of you? How is that possible?”

“We don't know. All we know is that we cannot have any children naturally. So we must use our DNA for the clones until they start to become unstable. A new influx of DNA is always welcome.” She indicated Rory and Amy as she said this. Both of them crossed their legs.

“Can't you ask the other planets in this system for help?” Rory asked. “This isn't any way to live.”

“We were not always a peaceful race. We fought many wars in order to protect our mine's facilities. No one will want to help us.”

“Maybe you should try anyway,” Amy suggested. “You might be surprised.”

Kelisa sadly shook her head. “Even if we wanted to, our expertise lies in mining. We no longer have the skills to operate the communication equipment.”

“Well, our, uh, _companion_ will be able to help with that,” Rory said.

“All right,” Kelisa replied. She still looked a little unsure but she led them through the corridor and back onto the platform where they had first arrived.

The TARDIS was still where they had left it. But the Doctor was nowhere to be found.

* * * * * 

“I've deactivated the force field,” Kelisa told them. “And set the scanners to track down any other life forms.”

“He has two hearts, if that helps,” Amy suggested. She and Rory peered over the railing and looked down into the mine shaft. They were both clearly thinking the same thing.

“He wouldn't have...?” Rory asked.

Amy pouted, thinking. She turned back to Rory and raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah,” he agreed with her silent assessment. “He would.”

“Is there a way down here?” Rory asked Kelisa.

“There's a ladder system, but the clones usually just jump.”

“Er – what?” Rory asked.

Kelisa removed a button from her uniform and threw it down the mine shaft. Amy and Rory watched with interest as it bounced harmlessly in the air, four floors down.

“There are forcefields every four levels.”

“Okay,” Rory said. “But the Doctor clearly isn't on that level...”

“The forcefields are run by the SuperComputer.” She pointed to the top of the mine shaft and Amy and Rory took an automatic step back – the SuperComputer looked a little too eye-like for either of their tastes. “It keeps the Cryogenic system working as well, monitors clones behaviours, releases humans when it needs to. It reads intent, you see. That's the important thing. Inanimate objects stop at the the first forcefield, clones stop at whatever level they need to get to.”

“So what level would the Doctor think he needed to get to?” Rory peered further over the railing and Amy grabbed hold of the back of his jacket. Forcefield or not she didn't want him tumbling over.

“Hello!” A familiar voice shouted. “Need a – might need a – maybe possibly a bit of help. Up here. Yes, yes, there’s no need to laugh.”

But Amy and Rory couldn’t help it as they looked up to the find the Doctor dangling in mid-air.

“Are you all right?” Amy asked, doing her best to keep a straight face.

“Does it look like I'm all right?” the Doctor asked.

“Is there some way we can get him down?” Rory asked Kelisa.

Kelisa frowned. “The SuperComputer should let him down, if that's what he wants. Only Maintenance Clones ever go up there.”

“Doctor,” Amy called out. “You need to want to come down.”

It took the Doctor a good ten minutes of obvious internal wrangling before he finally made it down to the right level. Whatever had made him want to get a closer look at the SuperComputer was clearly very compelling.

Amy sidled a little closer to the Doctor, hoping he'd let her know what he was planning; because by the way he was staring at Kelisa, he was definitely planning something.

Rory was also looking at Kelisa, though for a different reason.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Kelisa opened her mouth to say something, and then abruptly crumpled to the floor.

Rory ran forward straight away and dropped to his knees.

“She's not breathing!” he told the Doctor and Amy. They both hovered in the background, but gave Rory enough room to manoeuvre.

“Is their heart in the usual place?” Rory asked the Doctor.

“Usual for who? Yes, yes, same. She is human.” The Doctor continued after Rory's surprisingly effective glare.

“But she's blue,” Amy pointed out, even as she worriedly watched Rory performing CPR.

“Wonderful thing, evolution.”

Amy turned to look at the Doctor. “Are you telling me that humans are going to evolve until they're blue?”

“Not all of them, _obviously_ ,” the Doctor replied.

He moved over to kneel by Rory before Amy could think of a retort.

Kelisa gave a sudden shudder and then briefly opened her eyes, before they fluttered shut again. Rory kept his hand on her chest until he was satisfied.

“She's back. But we need to get her somewhere more comfortable.”

“Good work,” the Doctor said, slapping Rory on the arm. “This place has to have an infirmary.”

The Doctor stood up and spun around on his heels. But without being told, one of the guards picked Kelisa up and began to carefully carry her away.

With a quick glance back at Rory and Amy, the Doctor followed.

Amy moved over to Rory and gave him a kiss. “You did great.” Rory nodded, looking a bit shaky. “Come on,” Amy said. She pulled Rory to his feet. “Shouldn't leave the Doctor alone with a sick woman.”

Rory nodded and pulled himself together. “Right, yeah. Let's go.”

* * * * * 

Amy and Rory found the Doctor, Kelisa and the guards in a large infirmary, full of medical equipment. Rory went over to the bed where Kelisa was lying, while Amy joined the Doctor a littler further away.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

“Wrong?” The Doctor looked around the room. “Perhaps Nurse Rory can tell us what's wrong?”

Rory looked up at the Doctor's expectant face.

“Right,” said Rory. “Right, okay.” He took a closer look at the medical equipment and started picking a few pieces up. A lot of them seemed very familiar, and he thought he could make out what each piece did.

“Why did you go up and see the SuperComputer?” Amy asked. She was staring straight ahead at Rory, not even chancing a glance at the Doctor. Because she could tell by the way the Doctor was standing that something was very, very wrong.

“I don't trust computers that presume to know what I'm thinking.”

“Doctor?” Rory asked, “can I have a word?”

The Doctor moved over to Kelisa's bed. Rory glanced at the guards, clearly picking up on the tension in the room, and then moved close enough to the Doctor to be able to whisper in his ear.

“I might not be reading the equipment properly...But, I've done a quick exam and...she's pregnant.”

The Doctor didn’t looked surprised but Amy, who had sidled up to them both, did.

“But I thought they couldn't...?” she asked.

“There's definitely a baby under all that armour,” Rory said. “And I don’t think it's her first one, either.”

“Thinking,” the Doctor said. “Thinking has been the problem all along.”

“I don't understand,” Rory said.

“What if there were a computer so powerful that it could tell what you meant to do, before you did? What if it could decide what you wanted to do, for you? What if it took all control away from you?”

Amy looked carefully over at the guards. “The computer's been...breeding them?”

The Doctor turned to Rory. “How old is Kelisa?”

Rory frowned. “30 or so?” He pressed a few buttons on the console next to him. “Oh,” he said, very slowly.

Amy didn't like the expression on either of their faces. “What is it?” she asked.

“She is 30,” Rory answered. “30 _days_ old. She's a clone.”

“But she thinks she's human,” Amy said.

“And there we go,” the Doctor said. “Thinking again.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” Rory asked.

The Doctor looked assessingly at Rory and then at Amy, who seemed equally eager for action.

“How do you feel about sabotage?” the Doctor asked.

* * * * * 

Amy crept along one wall of the cryogenic chamber, going as quickly and as quietly as she could. She planted the next charge where the Doctor had directed, and looked over to see Rory doing the same thing on the opposite side of the room. The plan was to disrupt the electricity flow to the cryogenic chambers, forcing the computer to either put more power into that area – and away from non-essential areas, allowing the Doctor to gain access that way. Or it would shut down the chamber all together, forcing the humans out – which is where Rory's nursing skills would come in handy.

Rory looked over at Amy and nodded. They were as ready as they were ever going to be.

They were expecting an explosion, or at least a shower of sparks, but in fact all that happened was every door in the chamber opened, and dazed looking humans stumbled out.

Rory leaped into action, manipulating the medical equipment as if he'd been born in that century. Amy helped him as best as she could, stopping every so often to smile on proudly at her husband.

* * * * * 

The Doctor was sitting on a deckchair outside of the TARDIS, drinking tea out of a mug when Amy and Rory found him. They sat down in their own chairs and helped themselves to biscuits.

“So,” Rory said, “they’ll be all right now?”

The Doctor gulped down the last of his tea. “Eventually. The SuperComputer’s been disabled, so free will has been restored. They can make their own choices now, clones and humans together.” He turned to Rory. “How's Kelisa?”

“She's doing okay,” Rory said. “The human doctor's checking her out, but she doesn't seen too worried about Kelisa's progress. The pregnancy looks like it's going to be perfectly normal. Well, as normal as it can be under the circumstances.”

“You were brilliant,” Amy said, drawing Rory into a kiss. “And so were you,” she added, clearly addressing the Doctor, but not bothering to look in his direction. “Both my boys.”

“Eh, no,” Rory began, but then he looked over at the Doctor and sighed dramatically. “Right, yes, whatever you say.”

“Where to next then?” Amy asked. She hopped to her feet and starting packing away her deckchair. The other's followed suit.

“I was thinking somewhere like the Star Fields of Avalon.”

“What happened to taking us to Prime Alsax Beach?” Amy asked, stepping inside the TARDIS.

“Changed my mind,” the Doctor said. He shot a significant look at Rory, but Rory had no idea what he was trying to convey. “ _Nudist_ ,” the Doctor whispered. Rory's eyes went wide – Amy on a nudist beach probably wasn't such a good idea.

“So, Star Fields,” Rory said, slapping his hands together and trying to drum up some enthusiasm. “Sounds good.”

The Doctor waited till the Ponds were both safely inside before peering out one final time at the Raxiflorian mining colony. Then he very carefully, and very deliberately, shut the door.


End file.
